I have been battling depression and anxiety since I was 17, primarily anxiety. It flares up in times of stress and it will never really go away so I am constantly learning how to live with it.

10 Benefits of Travel on my Mental Health

1. It Boosts Your Confidence

2. It Encourages Independence

3. You’re Pushed Out of your Comfort Zone

4. You Have Time Away From What You Have Always Known (away from the same triggers and toxic people, places & potentially thoughts)

5. Different Work Environment

6. Meeting other Travellers (a lot of whom have different life experiences but similar struggles)

7. You Realise How Small You Are

8. There’s a Constant Change in your Routine

9. You Acheive Lots of Mini-Wins as you Prove your Doubts Wrong

10. You Gain Perspective

This being said, it hasn’t cured my anxiety. I have felt anxious while travelling probably just as much here as I did at home. The difference is that it isn’t escalating into a dark place like it has at home. I am constantly learning & evolving and finding new ways to live with my anxiety without it taking over my life. The benefits of travel have affected my mental health in ways I never even imagined was possible. I’m proving myself wrong in the best ways possible every week.

This post was part of Mental Health Monday. You can find other mental health posts by myself, The Book Moo & various other authors here.

There’s three points that particularly resonate with me:
– confidence boost: I personally think a lot of (my) anxiety resides in an utter lack of self-confidence and every little win is a battle won against anxiety
– other travellers: I’ve noticed that travellers have so many things to teach us and yet are still yearning to learn from us
– how small you are: this is something I often think to myself: that I am so anxious because I’m so focused on myself and my problems. I don’t mean that’s everyone’s case, but at least that’s how I perceive what I feel. A kind of self importance that I can’t control. Seeing how small I am in the grand scheme of things helps me put my fears into perspective 🙂

That’s exactly how I feel with the small comment. How vast the world is makes me realise how small I am & how small my problems are. Sometimes I need the physical perspective. When I’m not travelling (and even when I am), I love to see the stars at night & think about how vast the sky is & it brings me a lot of inner peace!

It is interesting that you mention different routines each day help with your anxiety and on reflection I realise that you are absolutely right. Having different schedules each day of travelling helps me let go and improves my adaptability. I am in a stressful time at work at the moment and I cannot wait to leave on our upcoming November trip so I can unwind. Mentally and physically.